We started back to school last week. I kept things simple and a slower pace for our first week back and that helped make a smooth and happy transition. Our assignments included things like writing thank you notes for Christmas presents in place of handwriting, and chores might be ‘take down the Christmas wreath’ instead of ‘sweep the proch.’

One of the best ideas I have discovered since we began homeschooling was allowing children to discover learning materials on their own. I read it in a homeschooling blog or magazine or book – forgive me for not remembering because I wish I could credit the wise person who wrote it! It went something like this: “Set things in noticeable, easy-to-access places and never mention a word about it.”

I have utilized coffee tables for this purpose. I always leave the library with more children’s books on my card than anyone else. Here is what happened last week with a great book called “United Tweets of America” by Hudson Talbott.

I also have books about life in colonial America and the Revolutionary War laid out right now. On the other coffee table I keep a rotating selection of magazines. The kids have been given magazine subscriptions each year since they were three by my wonderful great-aunt. I have kept them all, but only last year got organized in a method to utilize them. I filed them all in a file box by month of publication. Each month, I pull out a new stack of magazines that are seasonally accurate and replace the ones that have been read the previous month.

It’s a happy thing to walk through the room and notice, out of the corner of my eye, a child or two lost behind pages that are full of good things.

And I don’t ever say a single word about it.